May 31, 2016

London-based designer and illustrator Joe Stone is back with a follow-up project. Titled ‘Drewbacca’, this new series follows the theme of his ‘Drawntroopers’ project. With some humorous wordplay and visual puns, he imagines ‘Chewie’ from Star Wars as ‘Queuebacca’ (waiting in line), ‘Loobacca’ (sitting on the loo), ‘Stewbecca’ (cooking a stew), and more.

May 31, 2016

If riding a giant log down a steep mountain sounds like an ideal way to spend a quiet spring afternoon, theOnbashira Festival is for you. Held every 6 years in Nagano, Japan, the festival involves moving enormous logs over difficult terrain completely by hand with the help of thickly braided ropes and an occasional assist from gravity as the logs barrel down hills. The purpose is to symbolically renew a nearby shrine where each log is eventually placed to support the foundation of several shrine buildings. The event has reportedly continued uninterrupted for 1,200 years.

May 24, 2016

It's always exciting to work on new projects at Smoko. We decided to take on the dragon light up slippers project. It's already been month since we have started and we can't wait to launch this bad *ss dragon!

May 24, 2016

Something quite special dwells beneath the surface of New Zealand and these images prove that the country is just as beautiful below ground as it is above!

The Waitomo area is famous for it’s limestone caves and within these caves are one of the most magical insects in the world, the glowworm. Glow worms emit a phosphorescent glow that light up the cave and create a surreal environment.

Over the past year I have been back and forth to Waitomo’s Ruakuri Cave to master the art of photographing these magnificent little creatures – it’s been quite the experience! When the headlamps are out and all you can see are the glowworms, you can’t help but feel like you’ve stepped into James Cameron’s Avatar Pandora, it’s just unreal! Photographing glow worms is very similar to shooting the night sky, however the exposure time can be much longer. These images in particular range between 30 seconds and 6 minutes exposures. To achieve the shots, it required me to submerge myself and my tripod in cold water for up to 6-8 hours a day – it was totally worth it!

May 23, 2016

May 23, 2016

“[She and her husband] were the first people we told we were pregnant,” Pardo told BuzzFeed News of her friend. “We FaceTimed them right away, I think two days after we found out, before we told anyone else. And her first thing was, ‘We’ll set up your maternity shoot.’”

The friend arranged for her brother-in-law, who is a professional photographer, to take the photos for the couple.

May 11, 2016

Digital artist and animator Carl Burton creates quick atmospheric GIFs that blend elements of science fiction and surrealism. Glittering illuminated tentacles appear to twist through the dark while neon lasers emerge from deep pools of water. Much of what you see here represents Burton’s personal experiments, but the NYC-based creative also lends his illustrative style to images for long-form publications around the web. He works primarily with Cinema 4D, Photoshop, and After Effects, spending several hours or even days on a single GIF depending on its complexity. You can see more of his work on Tumblr. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

May 11, 2016

If you know what that means, congratulations, 1980s cartoon fanatic —​ you’re a step ahead. But for those who don’t remember the immortal words that marked the formation of the universe’s greatest defender, that’s okay — you’re about to get a new primer.

DreamWorks Animation is bringing back the gargantuan robot formed from five mechanical lions with the series Voltron Legendary Defender, and EW has an exclusive look at the new trailer.

The show kicks off June 10 on Netflix with an hour-long premiere, followed by ten 22-minute episodes. Executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos and co-executive producer Lauren Montgomery say their goal was to remake the Voltron show fans remember — rather than the one that actually existed.